Now, there's a thing that had never been seen
on this earth; never before was a child born a king with his father
living. On that day a balloon went up in Paris to tell the news to Rome,
and that balloon made the journey in one day.
"Now, is there any man among you who will stand up here and declare to
me that all that was human? No; it was _written above_; and may the
scurvy seize 'em who deny that he was sent by God himself for the
triumph of France!
"Well, here's the Emperor of Russia, that used to be his friend, he
gets angry because Napoleon didn't marry a Russian; so he joins with the
English, our enemies--to whom our Emperor always wanted to say a couple
of words in their burrows, only he was prevented. Napoleon gets angry
too; an end had to be put to such doings; so he says to us: 'Soldiers!
you have been masters of every capital in Europe, except Moscow, which
is now the ally of England. To conquer England, and India which belongs
to the English, it becomes our peremptory duty to go to Moscow,' Then he
assembled the greatest army that ever trailed its gaiters over the
globe; and so marvellously in hand it was that he reviewed a million of
men in one day. 'Hourra!'[9] cried the Russians. Down came all Russia
and those animals of Cossacks in a flock. 'Twas nation against nation, a
general hurly-burly, and beware who could; 'Asia against Europe,' as the
Red Man had foretold to Napoleon.
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